Last year (ya, that’s right) I took out my twin-lens Mamiya, bought some xp2. I was itching to shoot some film and shortly after I purchased a couple of rolls we had a lovely snowfall so I brought my camera outside while the boys enjoyed the weather. Later that week the boys and I went to a fellow homeschooler’s home where we were invited to partake in maple syrup making! We had so much fun and the boys were so thrilled experiencing the process, watching the sap drip so quickly into the buckets from the life-bearing trees. It was a wonderful experience, one they would like to do again, they told me as they saw me finally editing these images. Better late than never!
There really is something amazing about film. I love it. It’s totally different than digital and once I accepted that I was able to accept digital. I got my photography degree (BFA with major) using film. Yep, it does date me but that’s okay. I learned to create images from scratch, by hand, if you will. There is a real connection to the images, the moments you create when you use film and I think only those who have experienced this can relate.
What took my sooo long to share? I scanned the images soon after they were processed but it took me until yesterday, so that’s almost a year, before post-processing – as in getting rid of the dust. That part of film I don’t miss! 🙂
On Jan 3rd we had a crazy blizzard. The police shut down the malls and the bus system. It was beautiful to see from inside our cozy home and the boys even went outside to play in the -17C plus windchill weather!
The next day we went for a walk at our favourite spot. It was now -15C and barely a breeze. We dressed warmly and it was sooo worth it.
I knew it would be painfully cold with bare fingers so I didn’t bring my DSLR. I am regretting it now as I post here because the images would have been so much better. I brought along my small point and shoot and many times I manually focused for the snow and it just wasn’t that sharp as my painfully frozen hands tried to maneuver the dials. It’s hard exposing without a viewfinder so I apologize for the not so great exposures. Brrr!
Nonetheless, we had an amazing time out in the winter wonderland. It was sooo beautiful and showed us some things we wouldn’t normally see on a snow-free walk on the trials:
I have a hard time most days letting my kids play video games. It’s not because there are really violent games out there, although I am fully aware of this fact. That is not a problem because we heavily regulate what they play and the games are bought by us. It took me two years to finally give in to my family having a Wii with my final reasoning being that I should probably meet the rest of my family half way so I gave in and we limit their time to play. My husband is a big game buff and enjoys playing with the boys. I play from time to time but usually after a half hour my mind is swimming and I can’t see straight.
There are still many days where I want to just chuck the WiiU (which the three males saved up to purchase together) across the road. I gave in to the purchase of the original Wii because I had Atari (yeah, that’s right) when I was a kid. We regulate the game playing to weekends. I have to say, the boys really appreciate when we sit down together and play for a half hour as a family. It is very special for them and I totally respect this and that in itself makes it important to me – and fun – before my eyes get all buggy. 🙂
The boys got Skylanders Swap-force for Christmas. They make good use of the strategy books to figure out how to best get through a level and which characters to use. They are planning and strategizing and I like that and it’s something I try to pay close attention to because children are amazing and so very resourceful in the way their minds work. Sometimes we are too busy to notice, as adults.
This morning when they asked to play on the Wii we told them to find something else to do while we made breakfast. Initially, they seemed at a loss but not for long. They used the Scrabble game that our neighbours gifted to them. But they didn’t play your usual Scrabble. They flipped though the Skylanders strategy guide and found five characters they liked and spelled out there names on the board then proceeded to somehow add up each character’s points which had something to do with which kind of ‘type’ they were and how they related to the other characters. L wrote each character’s points on a sticky note as they went along, adding it all up and noting how each character placed on the board, as in first place, second etc.
This was good and I thought it was pretty neat. They exercised their spelling skills, math skills and organization skills and had fun doing it. True, it still had to do with a video game but it extended into something new. As always, I have to say, video games aren’t all bad. It’s the moderation that counts and when they extend their ideas into other ways of play, it can be very cool.
Remember those felt candies from the last post? Here they are all laid out in a pattern so that we would know how to thread them all on since we make red and green ones. This was Xman’s work. He simply began placing two reds and one green and it worked out perfectly. It measured 5 feet long! I figured we could thread 10 beads between each candy and L said we would need 500 beads. Oh my! Luckily, we had 550 so we were good to go!
I cut a 12 foot piece of quilting thread and started adding the candies then beads as L then pushed them down to the end of the line where Xman took out the pins from the candies and pushed the beads against them to keep them closed. It was great teamwork and in less than an hour we had our garland with some left over! I haven’t taken a picture of the garland on our bannister because it was too dark by that time but you’ll just have to believe me that it looks great – or at least we think so and we really enjoyed the process together.
Next came my job of grating the beeswax for our solstice candles for today. I only scraped one knuckle. Not bad for my track record. 🙂
I tried hanging the wick line with a clothespin attached to the bottom to help straighten it out but this didn’t work. The wick had been rolled in a ball for so long I almost decided that there was no way to straighten it out so it would sit in the middle of each candle. I decided to take my chances and just added a bit of wax to the bottom of each dixie cup and then place the end of each wick piece in and let that dry before adding more wax. Once the wax was dry I gently pulled up the wick and straightened it out by clipping a clothespin to each wick then resting the clothespin on top of the cup.
We were now ready for Solstice!
We also decided to begin a new tradition. I find that the holiday season goes by too quickly. Once the frenzy of gifts is over, we rush off to relative’s places for visits and dinner and then suddenly it’s time for home and bed. So this year, we decided to have small gifts in the boys’ stocking for every day up to Christmas beginning with the Solstice. A nice way to celebrate the shortest day of the year and the holiday to come. The boys were so surprised to see a gift in their stockings. Oh, two gifts!
These pocket microscopes are wonderful portable magnifiers and the boys were thrilled. They can zoom 20-40x, have a focusing lever and an LED light. Not bad! Next we would open the geodes and look inside, but first, mother must go off to work so the geode breaking would have to wait.
Once I arrived home from a very busy workday we lit the candles inside our previously made lanterns.
We then each took a turn in saying what we have been thankful for during the past year. L decided we could light four candles today, three tomorrow, two for the 23rd and one for the day before Christmas. Sounds like a great tradition! Happy Solstice to all!
Just today I was FaceTiming with a wonderful friend. We ended up talking for a fair part of the afternoon and it felt good to connect and share. When we had finished I went to check the mail, and amidst a few parcels of books (yay books!) I found a package from her and it was like getting a hug in the mail. The boys were so excited to open the wrappings and so I to reminded them to slow down and be careful as we knew these were valuable pieces.
I took pictures of these special parts of nature from New Mexico and Colorado so that I wouldn’t forget where each came from. I tell myself I will remember these types of details but laughingly remind myself from past experience that that is rarely the case. Pictures are wonderful memory catalysts.
The boys and I couldn’t believe how soft these were…
There are actual seeds within the yucca pod which I find just beautiful. I may have to draw it.
The volcanic rock was light and smooth in some parts and in others held the surface texture of whatever it touched as it cooled.
I can see why the cottonwood is such a personal favourite. These leaves glistened like gold. They were amazing.
The boys called out the oak and maple right away and were in awe of the colour of the cottonwood. I also love that the oak leaves are paired and that the double samara is this beautiful yellow green colour I’ve never seen before. In our part of Nova Scotia they tend to be a medium brown tone with less depth. We still love them nonetheless and enjoy watching them lightly helicopter down through the air to the ground.
We were so careful with the cottonwood seeds that looked like they were already in mid-flight.
The pine cone had a movement all its own with its whispy appendages.
We were surprised at how the deceptive weight of the petrified wood and I chuckled to myself as we had just been discussing this in our FaceTime conversation.
These treasures needed a safe and special spot away from the curiosity of Gypsy. The mantle was to be the chosen spot so I found an appropriate plate, placed everything with care and made space on our mantle between our plethora of shells and pine cones, candles and incense. It’s our little nature altar. I like that.
Thank you, Dawn, for the wonderful addition to our collection. Makes me smile. It was a good day.
Dawn is one of the best lovers of nature I know. If you want to see what she is up to and find out more about the world outside your door, you should really visit the Mud Puddles to Meteors site. It’s packed full of cool stuff!
This weekend was one of very few that I have off entirely. I usually work Sundays so this was a treat. Down side, Stephen had a lot of work to do which made it easier with me off to hang with the boys. We got out briefly to be a part of a very important demonstration walk in downtown. The boys chanted and carried signs. It was important that they see people standing up for what they believe in. It’s one think to tell them about it and another to be a part of it. I think it makes it real.
It felt good to be a part of something significant. Hope to do it again.
We went for some much needed sustenance after all that walking. The past few times the boys have had their program at the art gallery we’ve passed Tim’s and they’ve asked for ice cream. It was only 7C outside but I couldn’t say no. 🙂
Then we went for a walk along the harbour. Beautiful.
The boys learned about this NSCAD couple’s work during their visit to the gallery this week so it was a must to see this in person.
On our way up to MEC for winter mitts (which ended in purchasing winter gloves) for the boys (and almost snowshoes!!) we spotted some sea creatures!
It was a lovely Saturday, however, by the time we arrived home Stephen had a killer migraine (the chanting probably didn’t help). It was a very lay low evening.
Today, I was invited with a friend to an artisan’s show and sale. Oh my how fun and wonderful to see and talk with other artists! So inspiring!
After lunch I went outside to fix the piece of glass I installed and caulked on my cold frame. The caulking didn’t take probably due to dampness. Ugh. I doubt it will take this time either. I may have to bring the top into the basement to let it set tomorrow.
Meanwhile, to my delight, the boys came outside and raked into a huge pile as high as X (no kidding!) all the leaves in our yard and then proceeded to jump into them. They had a great time!
While they did this, and in-between my picture taking and video recording I mended some clothing while sipping tea and snacking. It was nice, yes, it was very, very nice.
This past week we sent out our nature box to Latvia! We loved being a part of the nature exchange! These are some of the finding we have left over. Hmmm…now where to put them all?
The boys helped as we identified some of our findings. It was hard work and a lot of research and picture comparing but it was a great learning experience. Here are some of the sites we used for our identification:
All packaged up and off it went with one of the leaf prints we made earlier this year and a feather for an added touch.
This week the boys and I made some yummy vegan rice crispy squares! We had found some vegan marshmallows at a local shop (oh so gooood!) and added a few of these even though they weren’t part of the recipe. I did add more dates and almond butter to make it all stick together more – I guess peanut butter must be stickier… Then we put dairy-free chocolate chips melted with a little almond milk on top. So good!
The boys are on their way to painting their five element stones. None of the paint stuck well except for the white so now they are painting them all white and then adding the colours on top. We shall see how it goes!
We watched this super cool video using a VW Beetle for instrumental sounds – watch all three versions, it’s very cool!
I made this super yummy soup originally posted by Dawn on FB but didn’t have enough garlic so we added powdered garlic later and oh, wow, maybe not the freshest thing but still did the job. The boys now love it on noodles too!
By the end of the week, we started to learn about space, again. It often comes back to space and I gotta say, it’s always very cool.
This is a great book and we have borrowed it from the library a multitude of times and really should purchase it at this point. We started from the beginning instead of jumping to where our question would be answered and found out exactly what light years really are and how to pronounce this number: 9,500,000,000,000. Not a good thing to do just before bed though, as there were a ton of questions swimming around in their heads!
I think we need to have a weekly question box blog post. We have a question box for those things that we can’t get to answering right away but somehow never get to it. Yes, a question box weekly blog post should do. 🙂
Today, we will be learning more about the weather, thanks to Mud Puddles ladies Dawn and Annie! Can’t wait!
What did you do last week? Anything cool and interesting that you’ve learned lately?
It was an unschooling week this time around what with the usual programs and Halloween.
We went to two parties, one of which consisted of finding dragon eggs with much excitement! Inside each egg was a joke instead of candy and I gotta say, I like that lack of candy business.
We also brought along these yummy cookies! You may want to bookmark this site! There is an amazing overnight oatmeal recipe too, I kid you not! But, I digress…food does that…
We also tried starting a fire which didn’t work that well as it had rained the day before and we didn’t have much kindling/newspaper as starter at first. Another family arrived who happened to have a bunch of newspaper in their car which proved helpful as some of the kids were very determined to get that fire going. I must say, despite the wet wood, we did manage to make it work eventually. It was fun for them to see the different ways that wood, leaves, and paper burned. I think next time we need to make some of these starters from the summer edition of Alphabet Glue and come prepared!
Later in the week I had a big order for a family photo shoot to prepare so the boys sat down to make their own Pokémon cards. There was a lot of drawing, colouring, cutting, and writing. It was quiet with all of this studiousness. I have to say it was so lovely. Gypsy was curious and hopped up on Xman’s chair to get a little closer to the action.
Yesterday morning, as you may know, was a solar eclipse. It was not only an annular but total eclipse! We were very excited to see if the sky got even a little darker from our wee spot on this earth of ours but with all of the overcast weather we did not see a thing. If we had had a clear sky we would have been able to see some of the eclipse from our area, most likely the annular part. However, the boys had a great idea on how to view the eclipse another way using their Star Walk app on their iPods. It showed them where the moon, sun and the earth (among other celestial bodies) would be at our specific location and exact moment. It was the next best thing I’d say! I know, it looks like the same picture twice but that is because it is! Both boys took a screen shot so they would each have their own record of it and I could show them on the blog. Even Stephen, right?
There are some pretty incredible images of the eclipse here. Did you see the eclipse in your area? We’d love to hear about it. Feel free to share a link to your pictures if you have any!
My boys love the sky, anytime of year, anytime of day. A while ago we crafted these great star gazer scopes by Alphabet Glue and they now sit on our window sill for easy access.
The boys are always in a picture taking mood and yesterday Xman took this photo from the inside of the Ursa Major scope. I felt like I was outside staring up at the sky.
Are you in the mood for some crafts that are not only fun but educational? Pop on over to Alphabet Glue! If you visit the blog you will find the new super-cool-and-amazing Weather Watcher’s ebook!
During week 6 my cousin from Ontario paid us a pleasant visit. For her is was a time to relax, see family and see the sights. The boys super-enjoyed having her here as did we!
Along with visit and reminiscing the boys and I did our circle time and yoga. I must say, I am thrilled with how much the boys love the yoga and even add poses and take turns leading! This is rest time.
I like rest time.
Then we did a craft which I found on Pinterest to go with our number four study. We seem to be going through the numbers quite slowly what with everything else going on in our home lately but it has allowed us to see numbers in a different way, not just for math but in shapes and nature. The piece we worked on is called God’s Eye and I thought it worked well with the number four, being four sided and all… it was quite fun to do and easy too! It simply consists of a lot of wrapping embroidery thread around popsicle sticks but the fun is in the colours and combinations. I told the boys they could be their dream catchers explaining to them that God’s Eye will trap the bad dreams and let the good ones through. The boys hung their dreamcatchers by wands they made onto their bed posts. Xman told me the next morning the dreamcatcher had worked and had captured all his bad dreams. One morning the dreamcatcher didn’t work and seeing as it was a full moon I told him it may be tired of catching dreams and needed to be placed in the light of the moon to recharge just like our crystals. The light of the moon is a wonderful thing!
More stories! This one was from the Grimm Brothers entitled The Duration of Life. The boys used the chalk board door to illustrate as I told the story. I had to take three picture of the door from top to bottom to get all the drawings in.
L drew God as a face with big hands creating the world.
God then asked four animals, a donkey, monkey, dog and a human, how long they wanted to live.
In the end the human chose to live the length of time God suggested plus those of the other three animals combined. According to the Grimms we should live for 70 years but not without many trials and tribulations that all animals share but I kept that part out of the story. I like to end things on a good note especially with sensitive minds and very big imaginations!After the number four is the number…? Five! We read this great story called The Five Elements and the Five Coloured Stones about a Chinese Empress who was twenty-five feel tall and her adversary who was even taller who wanted to take over the land. There was a battle with an and army, the Water Devil and even a Fire God. The heavens fell to earth and the sun and moon went on vacation which brought darkness to the land. A magical brew was made which included five coloured stones to make a paste and put the heavens and sky back together. The sun and moon returned all everyone lived in peace.
The boys made the scene with the magic brew from Lego. The Empress is in the back at the top of the castle while one of her helpers mixes in the ingredients for the paste. I think most of these blocks came from our Lego Champion game!
We also stayed busy collecting things for the nature exchange.
Grammar and writing consisted of one of our circle time poems Parting Blessing from this wonderful book! I find Lucas, being older, can write longer before his hand tires. As well, he copied the work out in the format of the poem which made it easy to read. The first poem Xman wrote out was hard to read for this reason. I had to explain to him why it was good to write the poem as he saw it in verses while skipping lines. He was a bit reluctant at first as this was my idea and not his (I can relate!) but once he finished he agreed it was much easier to read and you could see the rhythm the poem carried by the way it was written.
Since then, L came up with a tune for the poem and they sing it all of the time! It has been a busy couple of weeks which makes for a delay in posting. But I did it – eventually! 😉
This week is busy as well with a Discovery Centre program where the boys learn about Rube Goldberg machines (they are super fans!) and two Halloween parties oh my plus the usual programs. Hopefully I will have HAW #8 ready to go on time!
